Treasure
by LadyZelthePen
Summary: Flynn Rider's solitary dream was for piles of money, but it can't compete with the treasure Eugene Fitzherbert has acquired, and some dreams are meant to slip away... One shot, complete.


Dawn's rosy fingers had crept into their room, gently coaxing the pair tangled in the bed from their deep sleep of night. She was the first to rouse, leaving behind the warm and loving embrace of her husband for the chance to greet the new day.

He was not so easily awakened, however, but the absence of her body near him brough him out of sleep. He lay there for long moments, watching her lithe form standing so still on the stone balcony just a few paces away. A breeze tugged at the silk robe around her shoulders and ruffled her shoulder-length brown hair. A lazy smile took his mouth as he watched her, an image coming to mind of when he had seen her in so similar a position.

It had been right after their first painful seperation, when the pain of knowing he would like not see her again had blinded him to everything else. She had stood at the window, so still, it was as if she'd turned to stone. The remnants of her hair lay around her feet, and the sunlight pouring in highlighted the tears that freely traveled down her face. At that moment, all he wanted was to take her in his arms and hold her, anything to keep her from seeing the reminders around them both of what had just occurred.

It was incredible to think about. In those few short days, she had become so much more precious to him than anything else in the world, and he would have given anything at that moment to see her smile again. Flynn Rider had naturally been suspicios of the rather naive girl from the beginning (she _had _taken him out with a frying pan, after all), but he hadn't seen any way around working with her, and he needed that crown. So, he begrudgingly agreed to take her to see the floating lanterns in exchange for the little bit of gold hidden somewhere in her tower. Of course, Flynn was not without a few schemes in mind to break their agreement, but Rapunzel (or Goldie, as he had nicknamed her) foiled each attempt.

And Eugene had been there somewhere, just shaking his head with a smile.

He wasn't entirely certain of when he had started to care for her. She had crept into his life unexpectedly, and he couldn't recall a moment past without her there. Maybe it was because until he met her, Flynn Rider had never done anything worth remembering. Surprisingly, as their little escapade throughout the kingdom continued, Flynn Rider stopped making his snide remarks and hisattempts to flirt with her, and Eugene had taken over again.

She told him she liked Eugene better, and she really was the first person to ever say such a thing. For so long, he had kept the clumsy and awkward Fitzherbert covered up under his savvy identity as a master thief, but she- this girl who had spent her entire eighteen years of life (minus one day) in a tower- seemed to know him better than he did. It was really strange at first- she'd managed to make him care, and by the time the whole ordeal was over, he found he didn't mind in the slightest.

When they had visited the Snuggly Duckling (really, he was still puzzling over the name), he had admitted his dream was to be alone on some island with enough money to make even the richest king jealous. But, that had been Flynn's dream, and once he started getting to know the strange girl with fifty feet of hair, Eugene decided enough was enough.

It all came down to the night on the boats, and the morning afterward. "You were my new dream," he'd told her as he lay dying, knowing his act to cut her hair had resulted in his own demise. But he didn't care, because it meant seeing her free and alive. She would have the chance at a new life, a new dream.

He loved her, and he couldn't be selfish any longer. Flynn was dead, and Eugene had made the call.

Somehow, her tears had healed him, and now they were here in this moment, in this new life, with each other. She'd agreed to marry him, and even though he thought Rapunzel Fitzherbert did sound a little funny, he was just glad he was able to have her for the rest of his life. She'd been crowned princess, and he was named the captain of the guard (under Maximus, of course), and it seemed no one minded that he had previously held the job of master thief.

A child's cry broke his thoughts, and he straightened. Rapunzel turned away from the sunrise, a smile on her face as she walked over to the tiny cradle across the room and lifted the small baby from the bed. She cradled her daughter close, her eyes closed and whispering a lullabye too soft for him to hear.

Slowly, he stood as well and joined his family, wrapping his arms around Rapunzel's waist to hold her close.

This was definitely better than any pile of gold out there.


End file.
